. >> i'm john terrett in times square new york. join me and a million other people as we all count down to 2014. ♪ >> new year's celebrations in moscow went ahead as planned while those plans in st. petersburg were canceled. the attackserthose responsible o attacks are still at large, and we have more now from volgograd. >> reporter: there was not much left on the trolley car when the am against arrived. survivors were hanging on and volgograd hospital was less than ten minutes away. one of badly injured brought here. >> it felt like a huge electric shock. i didn't see anyone with a bomb. i was looking out the window, and i can't remember anything after that. >> reporter: for the second time in less than 24 hours the victims of another bombing, some with terrible burns. dr. alexander popoov said that they were carrying on several operations at a same type. outside they posted casualty lists of those brought in by ambulance and where they were being treated. the relatives of injured scarcely able to believe that this is happening al

. >> i'm john terrett. a record number of college presidents are now making over a million bucks a year. join me to find out who the top three are. >> start with one issue ad guests on all sides of the debate. and a host willing to ask the tough questions and you'll get... the inside story ray suarez hosts inside story next only on al jazeera america >> welcome back to al jazeera america. a college degree is often seen as a ticket to a better life. but for many, the cost of a college education is years of seemingly unending debt. a growing number of college presidents are taking home ceo like pay, some topping $1 million a year. whoa. al jazeera's john terrett is here. >> they are pretty jaw-dropping. you are wondering why the cost of the college education is skyrocketing. reason why your college president is taking home a lot of money. 42 presidents of private colleges were paid more than, wait for this, a million bucks a year, that's up from 36 in the previous two years, 2009 and 2010. and this, according

there's just no reason for it. >> john terrett, al jazeera, new york. >> the u.s. vice president is visiting japan, his first visit outside the u.s. the standoff has japan rethinking its military strategy. stephanie scowan has the story from yokosuka. >> they look like an army, they even act like an army, but they're not a real army. these troops are on japan's self defense force. under japan's constitution they can only fire to defend themselves. with japan's larger neighbor china asserting itself internationally though, questions are asked whether japan should rethink the role of its armed forces. in china's declaration this week of an air defense zone over the east china sea is making that discussion all the more urgent. japan's hawkish prime minister, shinzo abe is pushing to change the pacifist accusation. national security council will meet for the first time after joe biden's visit. some hope biden's visit will herald a new stage in japan's relationship with the u.s. especially since china's announcement of its air defense zone. >> translator: the united sta

john terrett reports from met life stadium. >> i hate to mention this but we get an awful lot of thehite stuff in february, and key is met life stadium hoad to super bowl on february 2nd has no roof. there is a chance 80,000 high paying fans could be freezing in the stands or, worse, the game could be postponed. this part of the world they're made of stern stuff. >> a snow storm could hit at any time. but that doesn't mean people should not be able to move around or football not be able to be played. >> he says the key is to have the resources in place and be able to clear the snow efficiently. and this is what they're worried about. a giant pile of snow, atop the 30-yard line. but it is not just here at the met life stadium, it is all the roads around because this will be known as the first ever mass transit super bowl. 820 vehicles like these will be on stand by to clear the roads within a 30 mile radius of the stadium. they'll have access to 60,000 tons of salt. no longer was the discussion over, secret weapon smedment mother nature you stand no chance. 600 tons of snow every hour

we'll go to john terrett. >> wonderful. >> you've been taking a look at this appointment and how significantit is. the big reveal. >> the great opportunity for me, the big reveal, and it is. 51-year-old mary bara and she's lifelong g.m. staffer. she has been there since 18 years old, and this is huge. the glass ceiling has been completely smashed. there has never been in the world, never mind the big three, there has never been a female ceo of an automaker. and people might be looking at why, john and tony, talking about the appointment of a woman in 2013, it's not an unusual. well, it is because it has never happened before. it's unusual also because it's not common, put it that way, for the very, very top jobs to go to an insider, normally the board doesn't want to have to employ the top person and then backfill down the line. but in this case they have because mary bara. >> what will her responsibilit responsibilities be? >> let's look at what she has done in the past. i made a note. she has been in charge of global design. she has been very high up in the company. we know that she thrive

john terrett takes a look at the history of violence in the central african republic. >> john, the central african republic is a vast country. for example, it has a land mass of 240,000 square miles. it is situated as the name suggests smack in the middle of the continent, bordered by chad, sudan, and cameroon. look at this, it's bigger than spain and portugal in europe put together. in 2012 it had a population of just about 4.6 million people. the main language spoken is french. it is a former french colony. now the car rarely made the news the at all, until muslim took are power from a christian. a whopping 460,000 people, 10%, have been displaced bithe fighting. approximately 1.1 million people are camped outside the capital, bangui, many of them at the international airport. a small force was mobilized by the african union but unable to stop the takeover earlier this year. the president michel djotodia, was unable to stop, and the christian group known as the antibatadia, are fighting back. djotodia admitted he has lost control of the situation. the security council voted to beef up th

there is just no reason for it. >> reporter: john terrett, al jazeera, new york. >> the franco ratheray be over in spain but his legacy lives on. seeking justice in an unlikely place, coming up. >>> it may look like an ufo but it comes bearing gifts. the future of online shopping takes flight. >> they were some of the best young players manchester united ever had seen. now a new documentary celebrates their success. >> first, the u.s. vice president is visiting japan, his first stop on a three-nation tour of asia. joe biden will meet with prime minister shinzo abe. we have the story. >> reporter: they look like an army, they even act like an army. but they're not a real army. these troops are from japan's self defense force. under japan's constitution they can only fire to defend themselves. with japan's larger neighbor china asserting itself additionally, though, questions are being asked whether japan should rethink the role of its armed forces. and china's declaration this week of an air defense zone over the east china sea is making that discussion all the more urgent. japan's haw

john terrett, al jazeera new york. >>> central beirut car bombing, five others were killed in the downtown business district and 75 others were wounded. mohamed chatta was a former ambassador to the united states, member a coalition that opposes the syrian government, in neighbor syria has sparked tensions inside lebanon. staying where they are for now. a russian diplomat says the international disarmament team won't succeed by the december 31st deadline. he was speaking on the disposal process. he was unsure when it would happen. continued violence is delaying the work. in egypt at least five people have died during demonstrations, near assar university in cairo. almost 300 people were arrested. peter greshla has more from cairo. >> friday was always going to be a day of confrontation. a test of will between egypt's antigovernment protestors and police, it came two days after they declared the muslim brotherhood to be a terrorist group. anyone who joins protests supporting the brother hood would be in jail for five years comarnlgd with insiding terrorist philosophy. >>> thousands turned o

john terrett has the story. >> in hays ruling federal judge william pauley says the n.s.a.'s mass collection of phone records represents the counter-punch to eliminate al qaeda's terror network. the 9/11 attacks might have been prevented if the phone data collection system had existed then, to help investigators connect the dots before the attacks occurred. the government learnt from its mistakes and has adapted. he said the data collection program was part of the adjustment, and he dismissed the lawsuit brought by the american civil liberties union after former n.s.a. contractor edward snowden released information. the government's interpretation of its authority under the patriot act was so proceed that it could justify the mass clebz of health and library records of innocent americans without their knowledge. the acl will appeal the ruling saying it misinterprets the statutes, understates and missupplies to weed away constitutional corrections. the department of justice was pleased with judge william pauley's decision. earlier judge leon ruled the opposite way in a suit b

. >> john terrett reporting there. >>> in south africa, a hearse carries nelson mandela body to where he will be buried. we're live from kunu with more, alan. >> reporter: richelle it was quite a day as the public flocked to the main high in th . it will go to kunu to the family compound as you see behind me. tens of thousand us of people through the city saying good buy to nelson mandela. services will be held tomorrow, world leaders gathering to witness much of those proceedings. now we're staying here in this area for a couple of days with the family of our driver, who lives in johannesburg but grew up here. he was born and raised here, and doesn't come back here much, maybe once or twice a year. in driving us here we were actually enabling him to come home as well, to see his mother, to see his family when he might not otherwise have done so. today let's take a look at that homecoming. >> that's my mother. >> reporter: homecoming. another favorite son of the region back where we grew up on a vary visit from the big city. >> i'm very happy to be home, to see my mother, my family. >

. >> john terrett reporting. glaxosmithkline reported third-quarter sales topping $10 billion globally. >> after serving the u.s. and afghanistan, iraq and other places across the globe. young veterans returning to the u.s. find themselves at more risk than when abroad, according to a "the los angeles times" study, finding veterans twice as likely to commit suicide. they were twice as likely to die in car accidents, and 25% more likely to be involved in other incidents. researchers hope the study will bring attention to vulnerable veterans. >> al jazeera's jennifer london reports is a controversial video is shedding light on how prisoners are treated. some of the images may be disturbing. . >> get down. >> in the california state prison system this is called a forceable extraction. >> help. >> inmate a, as this mentally ill prisoner is called refused medications, naked, is dirty from faecal matter and screams reppedly after being sprayed with pepper spray. this is inmate i. the state says she is extractions fall

john terrett, al jazeera, new york. >> the police have released the final report of the investigation of the new town shooting. there is no new information as to lanza's possible motive. 20 children and six teachers had been killed in that shooting. >>> a checkpoint friday night scoping out possible evacuation routes for diplomats. they're not saying why the men were taken into custody. >>> the death toll for friday's car become has risen to seven. the target of the attack was mohammed chatah. he was outspoken against the syrian government. >>> the first peacekeeping forces have arrived. 72 police officers have joined thousands of peacekeeping troops already on the ground in south sudan. they aim to bolster security where 60,000 people displaced people have taken shelter. a coup two weeks ago has set off a wave of violence in the youngest sovereign nation. >>> an air track at a rebel held part of the aleppo. the open air market was crowded with shoppers at the time. syrian activists posted a video to the web that appears to show the aftermath at the scene. the video's an authenticity

john terrett reports. >> reporter: in his ruling federal judge william pauley of new york said the noseys mass collection is the counter punch to al-qaeda's terror network by collecting communications. he said the 9/11 attacks might have been prevented if the phone data collection that existed then to help investigators connect the dots before the attacks occur. it said the adapted to confront a new enemy. he said the data collection program was part of the adjustment, and he dismissed the lawsuit brought by the american simple liberties union after normal nsa analyst edward snowden released information that it picked up information from networks every single day. the aclu said it will appeal judge pauley's ruling saying it misinterpreted the statute, under states the government's surveillance and misapplies a narrow and outdated precedent to read away core constitutional protections. now the department of justice spokesman said they were pleased with judge pauley's decision. federal judge lyon sitting in washington, d.c. ruled the opposite way in a suit against verizon for bulk collectio

john terrett is in the bronx where they are trai the train c. >> reporter: we're seeing significant progress in righting the derailed train cars. i'll stand aside so our cameraman can go right in so you can see what happened over 24 hours since the accident that killed four people, injured 63, 11 of them seriously. as the second railcar which we think is the four who died were sitting, and most of the injured. and as far as we can tell from our vantage point here those are the only two carriages from yesterday's crashed train which remains off the rails. the others have been righted, according to the ntsb, including the diesel itself, that was put back on the rails in the very early hours of this morning when it was still dark. let's take a look back now at the events that unfolded here and the immediate aftermath of them going back the last 24 hours. >> it was going fast. as it hit the curve was flying. >> reporter: the train was 20 minutes from its destination, new york's grand central station when in an instance the car came off its tracks and landed down hill, just inches from the hudson

john terrett. john. >> once the largest state in all of africa has suffered for decades tortured for decades on off on off civil war, religion, race and so on. however it was the largest country, and in 2007, sudan split into two countries. south sudan is the world's largest nairgs still holds today. the north is still known as simply sudan. but they are arabic speaking muslims. the south sudan has 200 ethnic groups. about 60% are christians. the largest tribes and it's all tribal there are the dinka and the nuer. they have fought each other for decades. we hear a lot about the border conflict between the sudan and south sudan. both depend on oil for their income. carrying oil into the north are the oil appliance, the government of south sudan has admit losing control of untd eut state. fears are growing around the world, president salva kiir, the president of the south has accused south sudan's former vice president, the man he sacked actually back in the summer of launching a coup or trying to. he

john terrett is here. >> one reason college education is going up and up you is, perhaps, presidentsf colleges were paid more than $1 million in 2011. paid more than 10 and 2009. the latest available tax returns we have from them. top three earners number 1, robert j. zimmer took home 3,3 3,327,000.17. i made that up. he didn't take home the 17 cents. the final man is this man, dennis j. murray, maish merritt college dr. zimmer's pay according to the chronicle, has doubled, dr. aroon's pay has dubilityd and murray's has quadrupled. the base pay was well over a million bucks. but they earned much more from their retirement packages, their bonus packages or indeed deferred compensation. now the universities are pointing out that scuch awards are there as an incentive to retain successful presidents like these three. and they also recognize their achievements for the total tenure, not just one year. they also point out that a key part of their function these days, particularly private schools, is fundraising. and that takes up an awful lot of time and these guys bring in more money than

judge john terrett reports. >> the question, how many people have been killed sint newtown is difficult using twitter they compiled one of the most comprehensive lists of people killed by gunsings this past year. they predict as of today roughly 11,610 people have been killed by gun homicide. bltion the newtown issue pushed for new gun measures? knowledge five times more lobbying money than they did last year before seant looks. but be is 12,000 was chump changes l considering lobbying spending for government peek, feechtion, much of that probablying meteorologic rent to passing laws in a leverage act niche passed at least one gun law since the beings newtown massacre. period of time 1700 state gun bills introduced, 109 were signed into law. 70 of those enacted laws loosened gun restrictions. just 39, tightened restrictions. most were approved in states that is is, there was a flurry of talk about restricting gun use in an effort to reduce gun use in people around the cuj. but the data shows different, that the number ever laws vm have been expand rather than restrict the rights of gun

john terrett, al jazeera. >> killing a local mayor of a town in the southern philippines and also killing three other people, the shooting created chaos in the capital of manila. police believe the mayor was the target of the attack. local media said he had 72 iived -- survived two previous attempts on his life. >>> canadian court making aa surprising ruling. looking through at the world through an 8-year-old's eyes. >> we are lookings at some very active weather across most of the south as well, for texas circulation over here towards mississippi where earlier they saw actually tornado watches in effect. you ask see on the satellite we have a lot of rain and a lot of mixed precipitation, especially going up towards oklahoma. this will continue, right now there are no delays at dallas airport, so that is some good news but we could be seeing some major displays tomorrow because this is what our forecast map looks like. we are going to have a severe weather outbreak tomorrow, all the way from the gulf coast to the ohio river valley, gusty winds, large hail as well as the potential of torna

john terrett has the answer from met life stadium. >> i hate to mention this super bowl fans but we get a lot of while stuff in new jersey in the winter. february is key for large snow dumps. met life stadium has no roof, meaning there's a chance 80,000 high-paying fans could be freezing in the stands or worse, the game could be postponed. wait, this is new york and new jersey, the first time two states hosted. in this part of the world they are made of stern stuff. >> a snow tomorrow can hit at any time. it doesn't mean football should not be played or people not moved around. >> he said the key is to have resources in place and have snow cleared. >> this is what they are worried about, a giant patch of know. >> not just here, but the roads around. this will be the first ever pass transit super bowl. >> 820 vehicles like these will be an standby to clear the roads within a 30 mile radius of the stadium, with access to 60,000 tonnes of salt. no sooner was the news conference over, than the met life stadium transformed to being outside the hot spription of iceland. meet the secret weapon

john terrett. al jazeera. >> now to the central african republic where there has been more violence between christian fighters and muslims who hold the country. christians attacked muslims in bangui. thousands fled to the city's airport. there is a joint mission to provide security and humanitarian aid. >> this district is known as a stronghold for the christian anti-baleka. the army are deployed in large numbers. there have been a number of arrests already, and it's been a period of absolute tension on friday. and that followed attacks on thursday. you can see one of the a placards, one of the many parts of the demonstration that has been quite concerted in the capital. over there you get how political this has become. demands for the president to resign. all over the city there is tension. all over the city there is a change in the die mention of this in that the anti-beleka movement are concerted in their attempts to take on the peace keepers. remember, this is a new peacekeeping force. it was a

john terrett explains what will happen during the next couple of days, several days as the world says goodbye to nelson mandela. >> the south african government put in place a 10-day timeline between nelson mandela's death and burial. day one was thursday and the announcement by jacob zuma. on to friday, day two, books of condolence will be placed so people can pay their reports and record memories of the man they knew as madiba. on saturday, day three, formal invitations will be issued to world leaders. most will want to attend if they can't. sunday, day four, and the media begins a long process for those wishing to cover nelson mandela's final days. nelson mandela's coffin will be moved so the sowetta distribute. the stadium has a capacity for 95,000. on tuesday, nelson mandela's body will be moved to the union building. this is the seat of the south african government and the rehearsals will begin at the state mem yore jal. on wednesday and just, day seven and eight. the state memorial service will take place as the country says its final goodbyes. on friday, day nine, there's spec

john terrett could you tell us? >> half us think it's a good idea because it keeps us safe, the other half thinks its terrible. and now members of the judiciary. not just any members of the judiciary, two federal judges, district judges, pretty high up, one in new york, one in washington, d.c, coming to completely different conclusions on basically the same issue. take a look. >> in his ruling federal judge william pauley of new york, connected fragmented and fleeting communications. he said the 9/11 attacks might have been prevented if the phone data collection system had existed then to help investigators connect the dots before the attacks occurred. he says the government's learned from its mistakes and has adapted to confront a new enemy, a terror network capable of executing attacks across the world. he said the collection.data was part, after former edward snowden being pleakd details, on american are networks every day. the aclu's lawyers arced the government's interpretation of authority under the patriot ac

we'll talk about the central actors in just a second, john terrett is with me as we sort through whatwas said by the u.s. intor to the u.n -- ambassador to the u.n, samantha power. >> the key line, as long as the two leaders are refusing to sit down and talk. >> riek machar -- >> who was the former vice president who was fired by the president. there's samantha power the united states ambassador to the u.n. saying look as long as these two long time rivals, they have never liked each other even when they were in the cabinet. >> they have the same ambition, they both want to run the country. >> innocent people are going odie many of them along ethnic lines. she was saying that the council has drafted a resolution, that will be sent back to capital cities tonight and there could be a vote on this on tuesday. the basic situation is to beef up the peace keeping force and 400 policemen as well all of this in south sudan and all of this to try and stop this incredible violence which is going on. >> what is the mission, is the mission to protect civilians, to get civilians out of the country

john terrett reports. >> the question how many people have been killed since newtown is difficult to answer. slate magazine collected data by crowd sourcing gun deaths across america. using twitter they compiled a comprehensive list of people. combining the data with estimate from the c d.c., they predicted as of today 11,610 people have been killed by gun homicide. newtown shootings prompted groups to push for gun control measures, raising money and lobbying. they raised five times more lobbying money before sandy hook. the $1.6 million raised for lobbying was chump change. raising a staggering $12.2 million. lobbying spending following the columbine high school and sandy hook shootings - much of that lobbying money went to push for passing laws in state legislatures. in a burst of legislature action every state passed at least one new gun law. of 1500 introduced, 109 were signed into law. 70 loosened gun prestrictions, 39 tightened restrictions. most of the bills were approved in states controlled by republican legislations. after the sook shootings, there was a flurry of talk abou

. >> that was al jazeera's john terrett reporting. >> delegates from iran, the u.s. and five other world powers are preparing to iron out the details of a deal to monitor iran's nuclear program. talks are set for geneva, focussing on when the talks will be held. diplomats hope a short-term deal will lead to a final settlement, calming fears of a nooek lure bomb. >> as world powers prepare to sit with iran. the door is opened to selling defense systems to u.s. allies. chuck hagel says that despite the deal with iran, the country poses threats not addressed by the nuclear agreement. >> no strategy is risk free. our emphasis on diplomatic tools should not be misinterpreted. we now the policy cannot operate in a vacuum. our success will hinge on america's military power and the credibility and assurances to our allies, partners in the middle east, that we will use it. hagel made the comments while addressing lead areas. >> six suspects are in police custody, aconfused of stealing radioactive material. the men are being interrogated by the police to see if they played a p

. >> john terrett has the story. >> mikhail khordorkovsky, a rich man, has been in gaol for corruption charges. on thursday, who has turned from olly gashing to political prisoner is in germany. he applied to vladimir putin for release and was granted it. in a written statement mikhail khordorkovsky said: >> president putin did not stop with mikhail khordorkovsky. in a surprise announcement he pardoned 20,000 prisoners, including two members of the pussy riot punk rock band and detained greenpeace activists. the pussy riot members were sentenced to two years in prison in 2012 amid an outcry after staging a saucy anti-putin protest in the church. members of greenpeace were taken into custody. what is behind vladimir putin's decision to let the prisoners go. kremlin watcher mark hollingworth said putin has an eye on the winter olympics and the bad publicity he's been receiving over russia's attitude towards gay athletes. >> i don't think it's a coincidence that we are six weeks away from the olympics. the olympics is a show case. >> vladimir putin didn't concede much. mikhail khordorkovs